More Innovations Expected In Wearables, Augmented Reality

Consumers will see an astounding number of technological innovations in augmented reality, wearables, and low-cost 3D printers, among other things, says IEEE Computer Society, which recently announced the “most important technology trends for 2015.”

The organization claims that while cybersecurity is still a critical concern, it will not stop the progress of other technology acceleration. In fact IEEE president Thomas Conte, said in a statement, “Researchers have been working to address these issues for a number of years, however 2015 should see real progress in these areas,” said Conte. “We are reaching an inflection point for 3D printing, which will revolutionize manufacturing, and the exponential growth in devices connected to the Internet makes interoperability and standards critical.”

Among the advances that IEEE Computer Society experts forecast:

1) The time is right for wearable devices: Imagine a wearable device that tells time, sends and receives email and messages, makes calls, and even tracks exercise routines. Smartwatches hitting the market do all that and more. Both established players and small startups in 2015 will be actively involved in developing new devices, applications, and protocols for the wearable electronics market.

2) Internet of Anything will become all-encompassing: The reality that up to 26 billion things will be connected on the Internet by 2020 is sinking in. The Internet of Things and Internet of Everything in 2015 will morph into the Internet of Anything. IoA envisions a common software “ecosystem” capable of accommodating any and all sensor inputs, system states, operating conditions, and data contexts — an overarching “Internet Operating System.”

3) 3D Printing is poised for takeoff: Next year will see production of the first 3D-printed car. The 3D-printed car is just one of hundreds of uses that enterprises and consumers are finding for 3D printing, which will revolutionize manufacturing by lowering costs and time to market. Also in 2015, sales of 3D printers are expected to take off, driven by low-cost printing and uptake by a variety of industries.

4) Predictive Analytics will be increasingly used to identify outcomes: Business intelligence in 2015 will be less about examining the past and more about predicting the future. While predictive modeling techniques have been researched by the data mining community for several decades, they are now impacting every facet of our lives. In organizational settings, predictive analytics has gained widespread adoption over the past decade as firms look to compete on analytics.

5)Augmented Reality Applications will grow in popularity: Mobile apps using augmented reality help the colorblind see colors, travelers explore unfamiliar cities, shoppers imagine what they look like in different outfits, and even help drivers locate their parked cars. The availability of inexpensive graphics cards and sensors, and the popularity of applications in such areas as gaming and virtual worlds, is bringing augmented reality into the mainstream.

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